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S.K. Ali writes a powerful story with her science fiction fantasy Fledgling. Told in eleven parts, this first book in a promised duology is about colonization, oppression, rebellions, and politics. However, it isn’t didactic, as Ali entices readers by sharing just enough to lure them in as they form their own opinions about pervasive attempts to manipulate minds with propaganda and as they form attachments to intriguing characters. Thematically, Ali develops ideas similar to George Orwell’s Thought Police and Aldous Huxley’s class system and lab-controlled intelligence while weaving in tropes from M.T. Anderson’s Feed to reveal how thinking threatens those in power and how technologyRead More →

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Book Two of Jennifer A. Nielsen’s The Traitor’s Game series is packed with treachery, and everyone is a suspect or shares some blame.  The Deceiver’s Heart opens with sixteen-year-old Kestra Dallisar in possession of the Olden Blade, a dagger capable of destroying the evil magician and tyrant Lord Endrick if it is wielded by the Infidante.  When the girl who would save Antora fails in her attempt and Endrick steals her memories and turns her into an IronHeart to spy for him, Kestra changes dramatically.  As a weapon of the Dominion, Kestra thinks an arranged marriage to Basil will be far worse than anything elseRead More →